Chapter 376
Chapter 376
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: The Sword Cultivator's Audacious Stand
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"Of course I know her."
In response to Guang Ming's question, Lu Yang didn't hesitate in the slightest. He frowned.
"That immortal spirit owes my Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion a karmic debt. After reincarnation, she should become a disciple of my Sword Pavilion."
"I was just planning to kill her to grant her this opportunity."
These words caused the previously amiable smile on Guang Ming's face to stiffen instantly.
'Sword Pavilion's Sword Seed.'
At that thought, Guang Ming carefully sized up Lu Yang.
Lu Yang, drawing on his experience from multiple encounters with the Soaring Empyrean Sun-Obscuring True Lord, managed to keep a straight face.
Who was he kidding? He wasn't panicking one bit.
Because he'd realized the Guang Ming before him was nowhere near as terrifying as he'd imagined.
Lu Yang had witnessed the World Venerable descend in person.
That horrifying pressure—even separated by the Book of a Hundred Lives—had filled him with utter despair, a memory he still couldn't shake.
By comparison, Guang Ming fell far short.
'The Buddha Child... isn't the same as the World Venerable?'
They were both overwhelmingly powerful, both capable of crushing him effortlessly. But neither could stop him from ending his own life!
'Even if the World Venerable's true body descends, it'll be like that time overseas. It takes time—even if just an instant. By the time the descent completes, I'll have restarted ages ago!'
His prior inability to suicide stemmed purely from the immortal spirit body trapped in heaven's snare, its influence too profound. Now, with the sword dao sub-body, the seas were vast and the skies boundless.
Unless a true Dao Lord stood before him in person, Lu Yang feared nothing!
That was why he met Guang Ming's gaze with utter confidence, utterly guileless.
Suddenly, Guang Ming tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something from the Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Dharani Heaven Worldly Manifestation behind him. A contemplative look crossed his face.
Lu Yang's eyebrow twitched. In his divine sense perception, there was no exchange between them at all. It felt more like Guang Ming's own performance.
"The poor monk understands."
With that, Guang Ming nodded. He turned to Lu Yang, smiling as he produced the Mind-Confinement Hoop once more.
"Would the benefactor care to become the poor monk's disciple?"
"Better find someone else, Master!"
Lu Yang's heart jolted, but his expression remained defiant. He sneered.
"I am a true disciple of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, leader of the orthodox path. How could I become your disciple?"
Guang Ming showed no anger. Truth be told, he had no real desire for Lu Yang as a disciple. According to the revelation from the Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Dharani Heaven Worldly Manifestation, his destined disciple was the immortal spirit from moments ago. Offering Lu Yang the position was merely a ploy—a substitution scheme.
'My karmic tie with that immortal spirit is now severed.'
'To reforge it, I must enact true and false reversal: slay the false immortal spirit to fell the true one, then usurp its fate. A Sword Pavilion true disciple's strength is formidable as ever.'
Surely slaying an immortal spirit posed no issue?
That was Guang Ming's thinking. There was also something ineffable: his intuition told him something felt off. Lu Yang's appearance here was too coincidental.
He detected no flaw, but caution dictated elimination.
"The benefactor is unwilling now, but will be soon enough."
With those words, Guang Ming began chanting sutras. The Mind-Confinement Hoop in his hand glowed brilliantly once more, descending toward Lu Yang.
"Clang! Clang!"
Lu Yang showed no fear. He drew his sword in a flash. Empowered by Sword Heart Illumination, majestic sword qi erupted skyward in an instant.
"Hm? This is..."
Guang Ming's expression froze.
"A sword cultivator?"
The Mind-Confinement Hoop, moments from encircling Lu Yang, halted abruptly.
Guang Ming furrowed his brow, a hint of difficulty in his eyes.
Sword cultivators in the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion were uniquely special.
Theoretically, each was material to fill the Sword Dao Fruit Position—and as such material, they had owners.
That was one pillar of Lu Yang's confidence.
'I have backing!'
Had his link to the immortal spirit been confirmed, Guang Ming would have acted without restraint, suppressing him outright.
But now? As a pristine sword cultivator—material personally endorsed by the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord, the sort who'd offered incense to the ancestors in the Welcoming Hall—Guang Ming, and even the World Venerable behind him, had to reconsider striking.
It amounted to poaching from the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord.
"...Amitabha."
After a moment's silence, Guang Ming ceased his spell. He intoned a Buddha's name and withdrew the Mind-Confinement Hoop. Not out of cowardice—simply no need.
Lu Yang exhaled inwardly in relief.
He now had a rough gauge of Guang Ming's level: likely Foundation Establishment at best, perfected.
And it hinged chiefly on the Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Dharani Heaven Worldly Manifestation behind him.
Guang Ming's own cultivation and lifespan seemed wholly寄托ed in that dharma image, the two inseparable. That was the key to his present power.
Otherwise, even with the World Venerable's might possessing him directly for cultivation, it was impossible for a mere Qi Refining novice—not even fully human—to ascend so swiftly in a mere decade. His status as Buddha Child spoke volumes to how disgustingly overpowered Pure Land Chan cultivation truly was...
At that thought, Lu Yang's heart clenched anew.
'...Something's wrong.'
He glanced over. Guang Ming wore a pensive look, the Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Dharani Heaven Worldly Manifestation still manifest.
What was he planning?
The next instant, Guang Ming shook his head and pressed his palms together. His face held its compassionate smile, but his eyes gleamed with indifferent killing intent.
He'd resolved: Better to kill the innocent than spare the guilty!
The World Venerable's way—and Guang Ming's own. Conversion inconvenient? Suspicion alone warranted death!
Lu Yang had no choice but to hold his sword before his chest.
In the next breath, visible razor-sharp sword qi cloaked him. All his qi luck and merit converged on the blade.
That was Lu Yang's other pillar of confidence.
'[Lifesevering Sword]!'
The sword dao sub-body's fourth innate divine ability profundity!
A mutual destruction blade, liberating one's life for a single strike: self first, foe second. At root, a sacrificial rite to the Sword Dao Fruit Position.
A sword cultivator unleashing it offered every shred of life and cultivation to the Sword Dao Fruit Position, gaining a strike of peerless might. Thus, Sword Pavilion sword cultivators inspired perennial dread—even in defeat, they could trade one-for-one.
Utterly shameless!
For Lu Yang, though, the power mattered less than the effect: life liberation, the ultimate suicide gambit!
None below True Lord could halt it.
Above True Lord? Its backing was an offering to the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord.
Who dared interfere?
The timing was impeccable too: Guang Ming struck first to kill, so his desperate counterstrike rang righteous.
'Hundred Lives...'
Lu Yang's intent stirred. He poised to unleash the Lifesevering Sword.
But then—
"Zheng—!"
A crisp sword cry rang through heaven and earth, urgent shouting piercing Lu Yang's ears:
"Stop! Don't rush it!"
Lu Yang froze mid-motion, recognizing the voice.
The Lifesevering Sword, on the verge of release, hung suspended.
Yet with it condensed, only he could dispel it—no one else could thwart his suicide. No worry there.
'A turnaround?'
In the next instant, a figure tore through the air, inserting itself between Guang Ming and Lu Yang. A broad back shielded him steadfastly.
Seeing who it was, Lu Yang was genuinely stunned.
......"Master?"
It was Perfected Being Demon-Quelling!